“There’s more satisfaction because no one (among the media) in this room thought we would win,” he added. “The players were more optimistic.”
Five years earlier, hobbled by a groin injury, Beliveau scored Montreal’s first and last goals in another 4-0 Cup-clinching victory, that one in Toronto.
“There was always something about playing the Maple Leafs,” Beliveau said, reflecting on playoff hockey two years before he died Dec. 2, 2014, at the age of 83. “We always brought out the best in each other, and our fans made sure of that.”
His 1960 championship-clinching goal, his second that night and Montreal’s fourth goal, came against Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bower. The two men had enormous respect for each other, and it was with a tinge of regret that Beliveau found the mark twice against Bower that night, and twice earlier in the series.
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